Organizations such as on-line retailers, Internet service providers, search providers, financial institutions, universities, and other computing-intensive organizations often conduct computer operations from large scale computing facilities. Such computing facilities house and accommodate a large amount of server, network, and computer equipment to process, store, and exchange data as needed to carry out an organization's operations. Typically, a computer room of a computing facility includes many server racks. Each server rack, in turn, includes many servers and associated computer equipment.
Computer systems typically include a number of components, such components include printed circuit boards, mass storage devices, power supplies, and processors. Some known computer systems include a plurality of large, multiple-processor computers that are configured into rack-mounted components, and then are subsequently positioned within a rack system. Some known rack systems include 40 such rack-mounted components and such rack systems will therefore generate as much as 10 kilowatts of waste heat. Moreover, some known data centers include a plurality of such rack systems.
Some computer systems are rack mounted servers that include a number of hard disk drives (for example, eight or more hard disk drives) to provide adequate data storage. Typically, the hard disk drives for servers are of a standard, off-the-shelf type. Standard, off-the-shelf hard disk drives are often a cost effective solution for storage needs because such hard disk drives can be obtained at relatively low cost. Nonetheless, in server designs using such standard hard disk drives, the arrangement of the hard disk drives may leave a substantial amount of wasted space in a server chassis. This wasted space, especially when multiplied over many servers in a rack, may result in inadequate computing or storage capacity for a system.
Some servers that include a number of hard disk drives use a centralized controller to control accesses to the hard disk drives, such as reads and writes. In such server designs using a centralized controller, a failure of the controller or ancillary equipment associated with the controller, may cause all the hard disk drives of the server to be unreachable. This reduces the reliability of the server.
Also some servers that include a number of hard disk drives may include a large number of hard disk drives mounted on a common chassis. Such servers may be heavy, in some cases weighing 75 lbs. or more. Furthermore, rack systems in which such servers are to be mounted may include elevated slots that require lifting the servers overhead or to other elevated positions. Lifting such heavy servers may be less than desirable due to ergonomic risks and safety risks.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include,” “including,” and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.